Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Just that the ants dont get tired and has the reputataion for being the most hardworking amoungst all animals. Even the big animals like lion and bear appreciated them. They rest at nothing and are always seen at work. While some appreciated them, other animals were puzzled.

One member in the big colony of ants was curious what other animals in the forest thought about them. Hence it set out to find what the other animals knew about the ants.

The ant first came across the bear. The bear said it thought highly about the ants and wished it could be as hardworking as the ants.

The ant then came across a cockroach. The cockroach said it could never be like the ants, as it thought the ants never sleep.

As it went further it met a crow and asked what it thought about ants. The crow said that the ants was always busy and didn't understand the need to be busy and working all the time. It said that life should be enjoyed and not spend working all the time. The ant said that the crow didn't understand the ants that well, and that the ants enjoyed working and work was a way to enjoy the life. The crow said that it greatly appreciated the ant's thought and it flew away.

The ant then came across a group of crane. The cranes said it just didn't understand why the ants keep collecting and storing food as they don't store food. The ant explained that this helps, when it rains and when it becomes impossible to go out they depend on the food they had collected. The crane said that it only regarded the ants as hard-working animals, and that from now on it considered them to be wise too.

The ant came across other animals and almost all of them considered ants as dedicated and hard-working. It couldn't come across any animal that thought low about the ants.

As the ant was returning to its colony, it remembered what other animals thought about them and felt very proud and wondered if there were any animals which had a reputation as good as the ants.

As it went, it came across a snail. The ant put the question it asked other animals to the snail. The snail didn't reply, however the ant was firm on an answer from the snail. Finally the snail said "you see the tree behind me, i am walking from there since morning. Now here is my answer 'I do as much work as you ants do, just that nobody notices it' "

The young cranes as a group wanted to be different from their elders in their community. They thought they were clever and smart than the aged cranes. When it was time for their migration, the young cranes questioned the rational behind migration when there was sufficient fish available in the river. The young cranes wonderd why they should strain and tire themselves and fly to a far off land when sufficient fish was available nearby. The elder cranes persisted it was in their intrest to leave the place when there was sufficient fish available in the river. When time came, the community of cranes left the forest leaving behind the young ones.

The young cranes enjoyed their time alone, with pleanty of food around they mocked at the stupidity of the other cranes in moving out of the forest. However, as time passed and summer approached the quantity of fish in the river decreased. The most clever crane amoung them, instead of taking this as a sign to fly away, suggested they should take lead from the ants and begin to collect and store fish when it was still available and rely on the stored fish when there wasn't any. Hence the cranes caught as much fish was available in the river and put them up in nests abandoned by crows and eagle, and to protect it from other animals covered them with dry grass. When summer peaked and there was hardly any fish left in the river, the cranes went back to check on the stored fish, which to their disappointment had decayed and was hardly edible. The clever crane in the group, again thought cleverly. It said instead of storing fish they should have stored water and put the fish in them. The other members of the group who were hungry and not finding much to eat, found the suggestion plainly stupid. They cursed the crane and wondered how they could be so naive to follow the foolish advises of the crane.

Desperate, the cranes flew out of the forest hoping to catch up with their wise elders.

Tireless as they always were the ants went on collecting food as usual as any other day. The ant in this story is no different and he goes on following as all his fellow ants do. One day as he went scouting for new sources of food he saw a grasshopper which was injured and could hardly move. The ant went near the grasshopper's leg to take a bite, when the grasshopper which was in deep pain asked the ant to leave it alone. The grasshopper said it was very badly injured and could harly move and would die shortly, all it requested was to be left alone instead of being torn to pieces by the ant. The ant pondered on the grasshopper's meek request and said it was leaving the grasshopper alone for now, however will be back in a few hours. The grasshopper thanked the ant, and the ant left the place to look for food elsewhere.

As the ant wandered around looking for food it was encountered by a lizard. The lizard looked really hungry and as it was about to put its tongue out to eat the ant. The ant said ' I am a small ant and what hunger of your's will I satisfy'. The ant told the lizard about the dying grasshopper and said the grasshopper being many times bigger than the ant will be able to satisfy its hunger. The lizard aggred and asked the ant to take it to the grasshopper - which had died by the time they reached it. The greedy lizard instead of eating the grasshopper turned to relish the ant first. The ant pleaded for mercy on the grounds that it took the lizard to the grasshopper, however the lizard denied it mercy. The lizard said it was so hungry that the grasshopper and the ant put together wouldn't satisfy its hunger and wanted to eat the ant first lest it runs away while its eating the grasshopper. Once again the lizard was about to put its tounge out to eat the ant when it heard sounds of grasshopper being dragged away. Turning back the lizard saw another lizard trying to run away with the grasshopper in its mouth. Angry at its food being stolen the lizard began to chase other lizard. While it successed in chasing the other lizard, it failed in retriving the grasshopper which was swallowed by the other lizard. Disappointed the lizard returned to the eat the ant, only to find it had escaped.